Why do so many incompetent men become leaders? | Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic | TEDxUniversityofNevada

There is a pathological mismatch between the qualities that seduce us in a leader and those that are needed to be an effective leader. Based on research on the psychology of leadership, Chamorro-Premuzic shows that if leaders were selected on competence rather than confidence, humility rather than charisma, and integrity rather than narcissism, we would not just end up with more competent leaders, but also more women leaders. In fact, he argues, the main obstacle preventing competent women from becoming leaders is the lack of career obstacles for incompetent men. Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is an international authority in psychological profiling, talent management, leadership development, and people analytics. He is the Chief Talent Scientist at Manpower Group, co-founder and CEO of DeeperSignals and Metaprofiling, and Professor of Business Psychology at both University College London, and Columbia University. He has previously held academic positions at New York University and the London School of Economics, and lectured at Harvard Business School, Stanford Business School, London Business School, Johns Hopkins, IMD, and INSEAD, as well as being the CEO at Hogan Assessment Systems. Dr. Tomas has published 10 books and over 150 scientific papers, making him one of the most prolific social scientists of his generation. His work has received awards by the American Psychological Association and the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology, to which he is a Fellow. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@scotthofland8858]

Crunch statement: "Instead of falling for people who are confident, narcissistic and charasmatic, we should promote people into leadership because of their competence, integrity and humility." Bravo.

[@levon3852]

And not by gender😉

[@beldiman5870]

I admire the thought but let's face it this will hardly ever happen

[@levon3852]

@@beldiman5870 this is a main problem in our society.. We are all thinking the same.. Pessimistic point of view

[@ablanccanvas]

@@beldiman5870 | ‘We’ are to make this happen.

[@ablanccanvas]

@@levon3852 | By ability.

[@pablojlascano8322]

"Being unaware of your limitations increases the chances of becoming a boss"... gotta love that quote, so true.

[@MrNess2911]

Yes indeed!

[@adv.gauravperfectlegalsolu7896]

Being unaware of your limitations;increases chances of becoming a Boss...

[@jasonturner6459]

Dunning-Kroger

[@emoke150]

I have the feeling half of the commenters are incompetent men who didn't get the joke.

[@evodgamehunter4290]

This is funny but it's less than an exact science, no one is using measurement to say who is and who is not competent. It's a subjective measure and very much emotionally biased. Most of this research is based on the employee surveys.

[@jan-lukas]

According to the dunning Kruger effect, the most confident people are the ones with so little knowledge, they don't even know how bad they are.

[@thecollector5243]

🤣🤣🤣 Just look at the auditions for Britain's got talent. The most humble where usually the best and the overly confident ones were laughable.

[@pjgdba306]

AOC is the poster child for the Dunning Kruger effect.

[@lordblazer]

@@pjgdba306 Not really, she's quite competent. Just like with MLK, racism works to look at every flaw a competent person of color in a leadership role has. And then they turn around and elect Trump someone who is the exact opposite of what a competent leader is, and they overlook all of his flaws. Like what you just did..

[@Sqwan2]

You should try to educate yourself on that topic. You may find, that Dunning Kruger effect is not what it is sold as. The irony in that is quite funny...

[@hetedeleambacht6608]

seems logical

[@jwh0122]

3 reasons 2:31 our inability to distinguish between confidence and competence 3:31 our love for charismatic individuals 4:37 our inability to resist the allure of narcissistic individuals

[@ahuskyplaythough3826]

So this is the Man with all of these Traits.

[@radusebescu5189]

To Winston Smith - You must be a big admirer of Eric Arthur Blair's most important work. 🙂

[@jamiecrawford8133]

The main reason is companies don't want good leaders they want good followers.

[@user-sy2ks5bg2k]

another important bullet point: don't encourage female leaders to act like incompetent male leaders, but instead act like competent female leaders.

[@filrabat1965]

That explains a lot why so many people worship Trump.

[@hudson2441]

It's kind of hard to choose our leaders from competent people who don't want to be leader. Many smart people look at the games people on top play and want no part of it. ( the egos, the politics, the favor brokering, the back-biting, pettiness, undeserved credit, keeping up appearances, celebrity, excessive responsibility and stress) often better to collect your check quietly do the best work you can and go home to sleep at night. I don't know how you would draft such people into leadership.

[@qjtvaddict]

We need to force the smart to play you are smart deal with it

[@bjornolson6527]

True, so true...

[@michaels4255]

I think you just need a better selection process.

[@undeadpresident]

You just described me. In fact I don't even enjoy being around people in general, let alone politicians and media, because I find people to be very small-minded, backstabbing and judgmental.

[@squamish4244]

Really? I find that to only be a part of what people are. If you look onyl for flaws you will find them everywhere. But look what's happening during this pandemic yes, there has been some ugliness and stupidity, but I have been overwhelmingly impressed by all the kindness and personal responsibility, and the incredible capacity of people to care for one another.

[@petyrkowalski9887]

Ego, narcissism, machiavellian politics, self centred world view, lack of empathy...... The reason many men get to the top. He is spot on with his assessment.

[@grantog123]

The world is built for those people.

[@zkcrisyee]

@@grantog123 Nah, I used to have that same pessimistic world view when I was younger, grew out of it. The world is actually a complex and... Diverse place. Diverse. Some countries yes, system is built upon corruption and scandals, war driven, etc. But it doesn't apply to everywhere, all societies have big differences... Even in a society, no big organization (company, school/university, sport team, governmental agency, NGOs, etc) has the same ethics, values and code of conduct as the next one. One has to simply go towards organized groups which promote real meritocracy, fairness, good opportunities for everyone, good treatment of members/employees/citizens, encourage psychologically healthy traits for leadership roles.

[@jc.1191]

Yes, too many narcissists and sociopaths are in top positions.

[@dsimon33871]

No... It is the reason many people get to the top... period.

[@love2learnmitchell329]

@@zkcrisyee . Please, give us the names a few of these organizations. Thank you🙂

[@edwinserrano1070]

"The best leaders are humble, rather than charismatic." 3:50

[@anthonyfowler8634]

Advanced intuition is being psychic and women are the best at it. I want these types running the nation regardless of gender. Stupidity has to be called out for what it is and blind adherence to ritual and ideology is just that!

[@mrduuud]

Even better is to be both. It is possible..

[@highwaygroup2821]

this reminds me of Manmohan Singh

[@beldiman5870]

@@mrduuud Spot on. Without charisma, nobody respects and follows a leader, simply because he is humble

[@carlohumfing6432]

@@beldiman5870 There are multiple ways of leading. A leader does not need to be charismatic. He can also play the tyrannical card to make all others fear him, so they treat him with respect.

[@AwakeInAnacortes]

First sentence: 'Have you ever worked with people who are not as good as they think they are". Instant thumbs up.

[@andrewcliffe4753]

I was good at my job, I refused all offers of promotion as I wanted a life with my family, never regretted it. Watched many idiots pass me by.

[@davec.3198]

I got the promotions...took them...moved around..worked very hard..made great money...now I switched careers so that I don't manage anyone. True happiness.

[@gabotemplario]

You were a mind ahead of that time, bravo!

[@Baritone45]

How'd you keep your job doing that? Good on you, but that's kind of impossible these days.

[@DerAua]

Wow.

[@DavidSmith-sf4rl]

I am retired now and have my own business. I could not work in today's job environments. Too many whiners and slackers for me. I worked to earn money and built my life. Now I can relax (sort of) and enjoy down time.

[@ripadipaflipa4672]

“Not asking women to act like incompetent men” finally someone is bringing this up.

[@peacheskong2245]

Yet that's all women want to be nowadays. Be at the top with the guys, just to prove a point that as women we can be as bad

[@barbeeska]

Worse sometimes imho and experience, perhaps because they haven't learnt the limits to the bad behavior they are imitating. They overestimate the need for confrontation, aggression

[@kotare86]

@@barbeeska Yes, many such women prefer passive-aggression and many such men prefer outward aggression. Passive-aggression can sometimes be worse since it's often prolonged and difficult to confront.

[@luisclaro3386]

@Sky Dome I understand the point... But unfortunately, sometimes leaders have to go against some wills... For instance if a leader ends with some lobbies.... A lot of people will hate him and the the people that may win with this "move" may not even know what happen because is the kind of information that should not be "published". Like this researcher said, a good leader is not necessarily a "cool guy/girl". You must see him/her beyond that, through facts (technically)... So how many people do you know that are able to do that? That's the reason why incompetent people tend do be leaders... Because of our incompetence to judge them before and after being leaders (basically what the researcher already said)

[@jandrews6254]

Peaches Kong how about women wanting to be leaders, because they’re tired of watching idiots messing everything up. Which, incidentally, affects women more then men.

[@bonniesitessolutions7728]

"competence, humility and integrity"

[@aikenodubitan5256]

You can say that again 👍🏼

[@duytdl]

"our inability to distinguish between confidence and competence" brilliant.

[@davidglendinning9871]

The biggest difficulty is to change from saying " people are sheep" to saying "people are sheep and I'm one of them". We talk about people in general but don't consider ourselves in that category. The reality is that if everybody has that flawed perception, then nobody considers themselves a sheep. We're all affected by illogical biases, whether we choose to admit it or not.

[@bjornolson6527]

David Glendinning recognition of biases is an iterative proposition. And, something to strive for. Logical thought, but maybe a bit generalizing..

[@kennyfrench4701]

If you dont mind , David Glendinning , i would like to elaborate on the word illogical and paraphrase it thus ;'Ones own illogical reasoning will not satisfy anothers sense of illogical understanding ' . Hence this is why one will agree to disagree while the other will disagree to agree The one who refutes this vehemently will secure a promotion. Iineptitude is inheritted upon accepting the next rung of the leadership ladder , put simpler ;Wanna be the Kiss-up , kick-down kind then better find a really strong breath mint !

[@camerontaylor7471]

The reality is that we are all slaves... and the system has created the perfect instrument to control others...ALPHABETS, THE MIND, and THE INTELLECT.... these is how they got us.. right in our heads... with ‘the word of god’

[@Jimmie16]

What about those of us who recognise the frauds and charlatans for what they are? Not every male is a narcissistic moron.

[@filminginportland1654]

James Lochridge Nobody listens to us lol male or female

[@danielarevalo6222]

im argentinian and just had my ego destroyed. But Alas it will be back very shortly

[@jamahlrawls3520]

Lol

[@Sofwan786]

Ha ha ha Daniel.

[@bravogolfnovember]

Hahaha don’t worry this is recognisable around the world.

[@henrykkaufman1488]

Don't worry dude at least if you mistaken competence for gender it's just in your particular case, not in general, like the guy in the clip.

[@wallabywall-e1540]

Boludo, no es que signifique nada pero mis mejores amigos son argentinos.

[@rodneypaterson7072]

My uncle William Gallagher the man who made the electric fence a viable option was very humble and kind, as an example when chatting with a cleaner the cleaner thought he was a fellow worker. At his funeral, many people came forward that he had helped, he had not leveraged those contributions by publicizing them. The Gallagher Group of companies now sponsors a number of sports teams.

[@fml5910]

I didn't know that William Gallagher was the man who invented the electric fence, I am going to read about him. Thank you for sharing.

[@danielsaezv]

Thank you for that story of your grandpa. Why sports though? Sounds silly, instead of scholarships for talented, underprivileged individuals. Think of Tesla for example: immigrant, poor, but a true genius. If he hadn’t been sponsored we wouldn’t have all the technology we enjoy today! But hey, look at all the scholarships available… you have to be an American citizen or a resident to qualify. This country isn’t what it used to be.., sports 🥴. Really? So they can get hurt at 30 with back injuries and lifetime depression?

[@beaujaxe6937]

"Confidence is the feeling you get when you realize that nobody has caught onto you yet."

[@jorgemari2969]

I love how charismatic, confident, and humorous he is. Oh wait ...

[@andreas.9175]

Yeah, that's how he got the job. There were a few good points in the speech, but it wasn't great. Maybe he was trying to make his point by being the example.

[@mmdrodrigues]

He isn't a leader though is he!? I also didn't hear him say confident and charismatic man cannot be also good leaders... He is generalizing and articulating the trends that come from data.

[@clomyst]

No no no no

[@samuelmcgregor631]

Maybe he was trying to get laid.

[@wendygaspar9838]

🤣

[@averaguilar]

As we say in México, "He who knows things, knows things, he who does not... is a boss"

[@pptstziao6937]

Augusto Vera but for many bosses, they don’t need to know everything, all they need to know is how to have most smart people work for them.

[@averaguilar]

@@pptstziao6937 Sure, the problem as the video states, is many of them do not know they do not know, and want to act as if they knew, forcing their will on to everyone (I know a few of them, total diskheads). What you describe is a leader, not a boss.

[@sprescav]

El que sabe sabe y el que no, es jefe, is that so?

[@clavo3352]

@@sprescav Heey I was going to say that!

[@johnabbot1585]

@bishes be mad you ever get to know them, their more intelligent than is assumed.

[@laken1804]

Kids out there, when your teacher call you incompetent, there's a "bright" future for you.

[@farangisehsani592]

One of the best ted talks I have ever watched.

[@csbnikhil]

I had the same thought.

[@rockradstone]

No wasted words. 😉

[@kecym.4808]

yess

[@djdarbary]

Imhoff's Law sums it up perfectly: "The organization of any bureaucracy is very much like a septic tank. The really big chunks always rise to the top".🍀

[@ringoballs808]

lmao

[@_MrJA]

Here I am just about to begin my breakfast, thanks a lot.

[@copycat21c]

"Anyone who is capable of being elected President of the Universe should on no account be allowed to do the job." Doug Adams, HHGTHG

[@franklinbenjamincrisostomo5738]

Anyone who THINKS

[@erwee7329]

Elected or Selected

[@godislove8740]

Douglas actually. 🙏😊

[@lornapirozzolo6132]

I tend to think that anyone who wants a position of power should be barred from it. The best bosses are people that others have badgered to step into the role and who have gone on to accept that it is their duty to take it on (so obviously excluding those who are badgered and do it grudgingly).

[@gunman462]

@@lornapirozzolo6132 "I don't call leader, I reluctantly accept it when it's thrust upon me" - Jeff Winger

[@jeremyboutwell543]

Best leader is a humble leader with understanding that people may going through other stuff in life that might be effect the work so being a listener and helping through intell they get back on track Don’t exist To Control but exist to contribute

[@thatgui88]

Amazing comment I agree

[@chris-terrell-liveactive]

This matches 95% of my experience of working in a number of organisations and dealing with various levels of government.

[@mariag.8242]

The notion of diversifying “the bench” by putting women and minorities in training to be executives does usually mean teaching them to act like the men who are in power, definitely not to encourage different voices

[@thekaxmax]

depends who's doing the teaching and where

[@yaff1851]

Even a white man has to become like those white male leaders to be promoted into their ranks. If we want to fix things, we have to choose the most competent person, IRRESPECTIVE of their gender, phenotype etc.

[@KDFBu]

@Nikki E. I think she's just making an observation.

[@s.j.5810]

@Nikki E. Birds of a feather, flock together. It's foolish to believe you're above the rules of the game. Hence, why you keep losing.

[@tripzville7569]

Yes exactly, very insightful post. Join us as we do our little bit to shine some light in these dark times. TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER.

[@barryrudolph9542]

Albert Einstein quote "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits".

[@itsalgud1459]

Brilliant talk, perfectly delivered, and in his second language! However, at the risk of being labeled a misogynist, I have met and worked for incompetent, overconfident woman. They do exist.

[@nicolab2075]

That's impossible.

[@IgorRockt]

Well, of course they do exist - especially if they have to compete with said narcistic, overconfident, and incompetent men who are trying to get into the same positions. As long as the SYSTEM doesn't change, the only women who are able to get "up there" will be the ones who have similar "qualities" as the men who are currently there. Just changing genders alone doesn't change the system as such (there are of course exceptions, especially when you have very educated women trying to get in there - did you know that Angela Merkel earned a doctorate in quantum chemistry and worked as a research scientist?). Or, to say it the other way around: at least in a lot of companies, MOST women in leading roles (and about 80% of the ones I've experienced myself) are actually even worse than their male counterparts, simply because they had to actually BE "better" (read: worse - at least when it comes to what we actually want in a leader) than the men they were competing against, since they had to overcome the gender stigma, too, and as such have to be "more men than the men themselves" to get the job or position (which, sadly, brings with it exactly the wrong "qualities").

[@ffreshfields5211]

@@IgorRockt this is exactly why I never climbed the corporate ladder. I did not want to lose my integrity. I am a self-made person starting my own companies, always. It is much better, particularly as a female. We have to recreate life ourselves, not just as any gender, but as people. Starting with ourselves.

[@northern_soul]

I worked for many narcissistic and incompetent women too

[@evek1349]

Of course they exist. That's what made them managers. That's the whole point of this video.

[@Astronomynatureandmusic]

My wife is someone who learned to lead - by taking care of our small kids some years ago. Guess what that took: humbleness, wisdom, empathy, ability to gently but firmly lead, look forward in scheduling whilst sometimes chaos reigns. Although she never asked for it, in her present job she is starting to get asked to manage projects and (from what I see) she is valued as a leader exactly because of the traits she used/uses to lead our kids.

[@zaza6911]

Very, very brilliant analysis. I'm a headhunter, and I confirm that what is being said is, unfortunately, 100% true. In less than 10 minutes he manages to make a real point. Congrats.

[@sujohnR]

Thanks for the confirmation.

[@TANMAN47TANMAN]

@@sujohnR lmao

[@bow_wow_wow]

Then hire more women.

[@piccalillipit9211]

Isnt that illegal now? Do you shrink the heads?

[@kavyanair1974]

@THAT GUY U got that absolutely right 👏👏👏

[@jayhay1237]

During my 25 years career, bad bosses outnumbered and outlasted good bosses 2:1. I blamed it on the director personality type; bad at math and score keeping, quick to action, slow to think, and motivated by power.

[@IgorRockt]

Just 2:1? Consider yourself lucky!

[@mofo6724]

I found the exact opposite to be true. Except the power part.

[@Dodgerzden]

If I had to name the top 5 most competent and fair bosses that I have had in the last 40 years, they were all women. So this speech struck a chord with me right from the beginning.

[@BerttoDiSimpson]

“Unfortunately, being unaware of your limitations increases your probability of being a boss”

[@j.s.1816]

"They see leadership as an entitlement." Sounds about right!

[@darrylcalder]

I agree with most of this. The other side of the coin is that people are shallow and easily duped.

[@Mikkaela4]

It has always been a mistery to me, how can everyone be fooled into thinking incompetent people are so great? I just cant understand. It's so obvious.

[@user-zk2tl4fv7z]

Absolutely, how so many people can't see the incompetence is always astounding.

[@rstash1]

Only if they resonate with the "duper". They have to have the same mindset. Read Eric Hoffer's, "The True Believer".

[@eemage9476]

@@rstash1 100% agree, excellent book btw.

[@jesusislordsavior6343]

@@Mikkaela4 Sometimes they know, but are afraid to speak out, or those in power try to stifle their voices. The ancient Hebrew prophet Jeremiah offered constructive criticism as prophets do, but how did the royal court and 'establishment' react? He was thrown into a cesspool to die, and had to be rescued by a secret sympathizer.

[@olenkagrskovic1742]

Mr Premužić, Croatia needs you !

[@kennylink6493]

True leaders will show themselves, they will be recognized as such by their peers. In my experience, these true leaders will be overlooked because they don't have the traits that are wrongly associated with successful individuals, traits such as ambition, being a yes-man, using people, and more and more these days, lying.

[@crimson6172]

That's because Leadership is a high paying position and in the corporate world, people only care about their own interest. Incompetent men don't care that they don't make good leaders even when they are fully aware of it. They will do anything to get that huge paycheck first and foremost. Everything else is of secondary importance.

[@MsDDutch]

Do not strive for higher ranks, but for the knowledge that is needed for the rank.

[@cameliadamian7090]

😍

[@billofjazz]

Thus bypassing an entanglement with the Peter Principal

[@jesusislordsavior6343]

Or, make oneself useful in one's present rank. If one is called to higher service, fine; if not, fine.

[@dbmckeever]

Wow... I teach HR and this is one of the best presentations I've ever seen! Gonna add this to my 'Recruitment & Selection' course [and a few others!]!

[@rcfarmer4450]

Incompetence has an applause button too.

[@EdgarSanchez-rl9zh]

Main problem with incompetent leaders is they know competent people with skills and they recognize skills they don't have. and they know they cannot compete and block people with skill to get a leader position. giving more opportunities to another incompetent people to be leaders.

[@1wun1]

True, except they also get competent advisors. Otherwise they’d go like Louis XVI

[@UffeErupLarsen]

So true!

[@vengurla1]

Well said

[@erwee7329]

Exactly! They fear their own position and status.

[@illyriandescendant7963]

That might well be true for some, but it certainly doesn't stack up with don the con. He's exceptionally incompetent himself, and has surrounded himself with lot of incompetent and highly partisan people. A double whammy.

[@tfsheahan2265]

So, the key is developing more competent followers. I've always said follower-ship is a vastly understated attribute. Incompetent followers deserve the leaders they have.

[@2slimj]

word

[@shinythegardener1731]

''followership is vastly underrated'' this is so true

[@ncamara670]

Touché

[@sleepyearth]

That only means we are rewarding incompetent leaders instead of rewarding competent followers.

[@michaels4255]

Some organizations can select their followers carefully, but for a country, it is pretty much stuck with the human material it has. However, things could vastly improve if it would restrict voting to people with substantial property qualifications. They tend to be more competent than the average citizen, and usually not desperate. Also, Toqueville observed that while the lower House was a rabble, the US Senate could compare with the finest parliamentarians in Europe because Senators were selected by (elected) state governments rather directly by the people, and Toqueville wondered whether we might not expand the use of this useful two-step selection process. Instead, we amended our Constitution to require direct election of Senators, just like the rabble in the lower House, thus going backwards.

[@losonsrenoster]

incurable INTP here (not a leader, but I once happened to get the position by accident), I have had some incompetent leaders in ny working life of 40 years, and it is the biggest frustration an INTP can ever encounter in the workplace, not being able to reason with a person like that, and having to put up with the illogical decisions. I only started delivering my best when I got a specialist position, not having to answer to someone like that, just being responsible for my own performance and results. That was the answer...

[@kbck884]

I've had my share of incompetent female managers who thought they were just terrific.

[@mlr4524]

Insightful and valid. Sadly, some of my worst 'bosses' have been female - although more because they were cut-throat rather than incompetent. True leadership is rare.

[@naturelover4148]

Incompetency is independent of gender. Male leaders are generally found more incompetent because they are larger in number.

[@milkgotzgames]

I’ve had a few good managers but normally they didn’t want to be a manager they just liked to help out

[@deveshmundepi]

The irony is that in corporate world our leaders are also recruited by these incompetent leaders sitting at top.... I wish the employees could have the right to select their leaders in a democratic way ...not by HR, not by confident leaders sitting at top..... Thanks for such a wonderful video.

[@Charisma86]

I believe that women can be great managers, and that men can be great leaders.

[@ohiostreetjoe3185]

Very good! It's important to realize that charisma is great to have for entertainers and performers. It may destroy an environment where work needs to get done. We don't need people with a craving for attention in my field - no question. We need people who are not just willing but also inclined to do the grunt work. We don't need people who believe they're too good to roll up their sleeves, for example. Sadly, we have too many supposed leaders all over America ordering staff around and not applying themselves (or their "ahem" leadership skills) to the business of getting things done. Competence tends to be in the lower rungs of the hierarchy charts. Everyone needs to heed Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic's words.

[@ronaldorivers236]

I had a boss who in a meeting said, he didn't had to be smart he only had to talk loud. He was the ceo' sfriend if you were thinking how he keep his job.

[@CordJoseph]

His superior

[@southbaycommuter]

The Dunning-Kruger effect, affects so many aspects of our everyday lives....

[@mydogdeli]

Brilliant and funny talk. Thank you Tomas. What's missing from the equation though is how those confident but incompetent people rise to the top in the first place. It's like the proverbial tortoise on a fence post; you know he didn't get there on his own. It's because we humans, much like our primate relatives, naturally arrange ourselves into hierarchies, and we instinctively defer to those whom we perceive to be alpha males. A male who appears to be wealthy, and who is full of self-confidence, whether it is deserved or not, will be assumed to have skills and abilities that they don't necessarily have . That is how they get promoted or elected to top positions. It is as much our fault for putting them on a pedestal as it is theirs for being deluded.

[@iris_nazarena_4882]

I really love the nuance here, especially that he mentions the reasons that go beyond gender. As a female viewer, I would say that the broader reasons are definitely more impactful.

[@aarondaavidson]

"One of the best investments you can make is to buy an Argentine for what he's actually worth and sell him for what he thinks he's worth" 😂

[@anitabrown3286]

Isn't that true for most things?

[@Menrva26]

😂😂😂

[@jorge9604]

As an Argentinian myself i can confirm

[@pisisigbooofficial]

😂😂😂

[@grahammewburn]

An Argentine is a cut of meat. Ask your butcher!

[@dennismorris7573]

Bravo Tomás Chamorro-Premuzic! Hits the nail on the head, doesn´t he?

[@teachthechildren2]

This was the best TED Talks I’ve ever watched! So good!!

[@GPRowe-dp1vy]

This is great. I'm glad, being in IT, that the most competent technical people don't portray themselves as the best. They might say, "I don't know as much as others here on that, but..." and then describe things on which most of us have no clue. It's like a code. "I'll respect you for knowing but not saying you know."

[@chan_irene]

It would be a lot better without the sexist conflation of intelligence and competence with gender. Competence rocks. Competence should be more important than charisma and confidence. But a leader with competence and no people skills nor hard decision making skills, a person afraid to take any risks, would make a great accountant but a horrendous leader.

[@youbringlightin]

The problem with political jokes is that they tend to get elected.

[@landisgallagher]

youbringlightin I think the adversary was less appealing so we have a bad competition

[@maureenperez9999]

Trump.

[@okdysi]

Bolsonaro in Brazil

[@indexplus]

Jokes have been trying to impeach the winner and failing as always

[@tuxjunkie]

Trudeau...yup.

[@1derman291]

History has proven repeatedly. Kingdoms, dynasties and tyrants were not created by humble, kind and gentle people !

[@mr.shelly1812]

I believe it was Mark Twain (who despised politicians) said this, "The desire of a person to hold a position of power is inversely proportional to their ability to be competent at said position.

[@lemon1peach2mango3]

Love this talk and, yes, the company I work for has recently hired a narcissistic, megalomaniac to run my department - and he brought a narcissistic sidekick with him - and these incompetent males' opinions of themselves are perhaps larger than the country of Argentina x 1,000. These 2 have ingratiated themselves to upper level management, and it will probably be years until upper management realizes (or is finally willing to face the reality that) they've been had. Hope I'm wrong about that, I would love to see these 2 canned and bounced ASAP. Pathological, indeed. Sad. And not my problem. ALSO - I just read your book, it blew me away.

[@SurpriseMeJT]

I have disdain for incompetent male leaders, but my own experience tells me that being a woman alone does not make you more competent or a good leader even if you are competent.

[@calvin2032]

Jay Tee He said this in the video. That the women who tend to be in leadership roles have been conditioned to act like male leaders, who are mostly incompetent. In general women doubt themselves more than men, therefore in general women would make better leaders. It isn’t impossible to have poor women or great men in charge.

[@mitanni0]

Maybe a coincidence. But, when I (a male) resigned, it was not easy (to put it mildly) to convince the (IMO) most competent person (a female) to take over my former job as manager ^^

[@hellosofia15]

being a woman alone doesn't make anyone better, but if you put them in the social context, where they're disencouraged to rise and rather focus on family, the women who persist chasing after leader roles want them so much they'd rather fight the critizism of society than give up. With this I mean things like "women should focus more on family and getting a husband" BS (it's still SUUUPER common). So when they finally get the job, they don't want to ruin something they fought for so much

[@sae4842]

my boss (a male) had a hard time promoting me to manager because I did not want to. This is because as a woman, I like to be prepared 100% before I take on more responsibilities. Took me a bit over a year to finally take over the department. If I really had interest, I could have been manager 2 years earlier (not as prepared, but I would have been successful). We both knew I was competent, my influence went beyond my department and I care for my team and their success. Why took me so long? It is a lot of work and responsibility and I knew it was going to conflict with my family time and my other interests. Wanting to focus on family and getting a husband is NOT BS. A happy family life is very fulfilling. Today's society expects women to do it all and perfectly. Compete with men in the workplace, be better than men at it (BS), keep children well behaved and a home in order. This creates unrealistic expectations that a women can do it all and better. A complete lie that hurts other women. You are NO less of a woman if you can only handle your family. A woman cannot do it all and be better at everything. As I said it took me a bit over a year to become the new boss, I have triple my team since then, I have nothing to prove because integrity speaks for itself. if I leave it all and focus in my family full time making them the happiest people on earth, people will start telling me I threw my career away. Yep. I dare you to manage multiple teams and projects, fix everyone's problems, fix your boss's problems and continously find ways to get more productivity out of everyone to increase revenue. Knowing your limits (humility), being competent (do your job well) and integrity (honest and consistent) are keys for success. Whether you are a man or women, the recipe is the same. One advantage that women have over men is that they are more self aware so they are slower to jump into failure/take on risk. Can they fail? Yes, you can be a low performer male or female.

[@deepdude4719]

The conversation wasnt about gender. The conversation was about effectiveness.

[@alvindimes4729]

Thank God for this man, I have quietly known this for years.

[@mijodo2008]

Looking again at this in 2022, Even more relevant in today's Geopolitical environment. Cheers from Michael. Australia.

[@DailyDoseofHope149]

People watching this all the very best for your future endeavors.

[@HeyLiem]

The personality trait of Competition is why there are so many incompetent male leaders. So often we must compete to get promoted, eventually the most competitive often rise to the top, regardless of competence, instead of the truly competent yet less competitive. For some, Competition is an obsessive trait that they cannot escape, while the rest of us would rather let the other guy have his way, rather than put up a fight. Also, we rise to our Level of Incompetence eventually. If we disregard competition, we also get promoted by doing a good job consistently, so we get promoted to a higher level, often to a higher rank above others. If we do a good job, we get promoted again. If we don't do a good job, we might get demoted or we might just never get promoted. A lot of folks just don't get promoted so they become stagnant at the level where they were incompetent. Unfortunately they are now doing what they are not good at, from now on.

[@jaimegarcia8447]

my views too. The problem is when those competitive traits are rewarded so much that cooperation among different company departments breaks down. I have seen that before, and it ended up badly for the companies in question.

[@abelincoln332]

From my experience, having over 20 successful jobs, is that most bosses don't know what is going on, or doesn't take the time to find out.

[@stanchung69]

if they're not hands on, they're usually good at giving orders and scaring everyone to perform. typical narcissistic assholes of which example you can find even from medieval times anywhere on the planet..

[@rickie5150]

Dr Tomas..... WOW !!! Your speech was Fantastic !!!

[@nikhilgeorge4720]

This was the most motivating and affirming speach I've listened to❤️

[@michelle.goodridge]

Okay, Tomas is spot on and such an entertaining speaker. He delivered this message in such a way that it would resonate with anyone, male or female. He is my new hero. Let’s see if we can get more competent leaders, in general, out there.

[@jesusislordsavior6343]

Michelle Goodridge I agree that the presentation is outstanding, but please, no new heroes. Our human tendency to look for and anoint heroes is exactly what sustains cults of personality. It lies at the root of the problems which Tomas identified. (Psalm 146:3) 'Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.'

[@mofo6724]

You just proved my point. LOL. He's a ladies man. I bet he wouldn't even deny it.

[@dannoringer]

good luck with that. It means that we must get smarter at understanding others, and this is a very difficult soft skill to master. The speaker did not talk about the ways to achieve the methods that he describes for getting better leaders, and this is the crux of the problem. Most of us will NEVER master that art, and that is why universal voting in a democracy is a flawed system. Only voters that are intelligent enough to understand what is needed in leadership roles should be allowed to vote, and of them only the stakeholders who are actually seriously contributing to the society should be the voters. The rest of us should step back and just enjoy the better results that follow from getting genuinely high quality leaders. For example: Who has EVER met an 18 year old who could tell much about other people. Developing wisdom takes intelligence, observation and time(decades). Leadership requires intelligence, empathy, and integrity. That too takes intelligence, observation and time. Hence, voting should not be something that young people do. Perhaps limit voting to ages 35 to 75 perhaps? Also people who do not pay taxes aren't really stakeholders. Food for thought?

[@jesusislordsavior6343]

@@dannoringer You are probably understating the matter when you say that understanding others is a very difficult skill to master. (Jeremiah 17:9) 'The heart is deceitful beyond all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?' There are different kinds of wisdom, and their acquisition is not strictly dependent upon age or experience: (James 3:14-15, 17) 'But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural demonic.' 'But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.' Btw procedural democracy has not been the 'norm' in most societies for most of human history. That does not mean that wisdom was absent from all human administrative decisions prior to 1776, or 1789, or what have you. IMHO the chief value of procedural democracy lies in what it is NOT, namely absolutist tyranny. Yet it remains possible for voters to undermine procedural democracy through the democratic process.

[@Summerkillens]

@@jesusislordsavior6343 exactly. Her stating him as her new hero after 9 min is exactly the sort of mindset he is talking about eradicating.

[@treavam5653]

I believe this Talk wholeheartedly! I've seen it too many times. Awesome talk.

[@clomyst]

You can notice it in schools where 70% of girls have low self esteems whereas boys raise their hands just to crack unfunny jokes.

[@laurak722]

Awesome talk!! I often say that there's a difference between how confident someone is and how knowledgeable they are.

[@chan_irene]

What if we valued people who were great communicators and competent at the same time? Merkel is an example of a not-so-great communicator who is highly competent. She is not the best leader in the world precisely because she lacks charisma. Because of that, my native Germany is not highly motivated toward anything and most appreciate Merkel but are "meh" about her in general, especially after she was faced with a hard fast decision on mass refugee immigration and (for a lot of Germans) flubbed it. For some reason, outside Germany, her handling of the refugee crisis is lauded, even though many Germans (possibly the majority) were disappointed in it.

[@mofo6724]

Confidence gets you in the door. Then you need the knowledge, while still being confident.

[@thatgui88]

YESSSSSSSSS knowledge is better than charism

[@nursesona7227]

Absolutely great TT! Love his speaking style and the truth

[@eileensinett3383]

Like your message and delivery, Tomas. I appreciate this perspective on leadership!

[@bjornolson6527]

balance.of.the.sexes Yes, Nerds, male and (more-so, hopefully) female RULE!!,

[@bjornolson6527]

balance.of.the.sexes You are totally non-sensical...

[@maddi110]

Another under-rated Tedx Talk

[@RhythmnOfThought]

Absolutely!

[@jpatherton2415]

wtf man, this was a HORRIBLE Tedx Talk

[@michaelaustin2973]

@@jpatherton2415 Do you feel judged by this Tedx Talk? :))

[@jpatherton2415]

@@michaelaustin2973 I am a victim... please hold me

[@bigbulk688]

It just got posted. Will go a million+ in 6 months. I myself forwarded it ahead.

[@ericktippett4158]

Leaders are nothing more than a reflection of the people that choose them!

[@autophagyketopisstiks7862]

*I Agree 100%*

[@exsethllent]

Very well said. Well delivered. This is a must watch and must heard messages. Thank you for the knowledge sir

[@pamevans8001]

nailed it sir. well done

[@northernbohemianrealist1412]

The tall, incompetent man. In my profession, we call them, 'Your Honor.'

[@zjoh1560]

Northern Bohemian Realist That’s a good joke. 😂 Though I’m not a lawyer, so I would not know what they’re like.

[@davidm4099]

Enjoyed this sooo much!! I have worked under U.S and Latin American leadership in Corporate America. I can say that in Latin America we tend to choose leaders based on confidence and nepotism a lot

[@dsddala467]

As a woman who worked in a highly toxic, adrenaline driven, White male dominated workforce, HEAR, HEAR to this man. Good leaders put their worker's needs first and advocate on their behalf with management, will be an excellent listener, an effective communicator who lays out clear paths to success for employees and who demonstrates high standards of work ethic, soft work skills (punctuality, reliability, hard work, team work skills, etc) and the ability to make tough decisions, accept accountability and learn from mistakes humbly, while holding employees accountable to the same. They will function without prejudice, or playing favorites and see all their employees as individuals and meet them where they are at. This is the kind of supervisor I respect and will work my tail off for and the kind of leader I have tried to be when I was finally, (and long overdue for getting promoted in the male dominated workforce by years) offered a leadership role.

[@FireflyJack]

Simple: favoritism and nepotism.

[@stephenparry6811]

dross floats because they aren't essential to the team: a manager isn't gonna sacrifice his best workers only to be left with the dead weight.... so he pushes them into promotion

[@RalphDratman]

That was excellent. The speaker hit most of the problems straight on. But we have human instinct working against us when we try to ignore confidence, charisma and a candidate's ability to entertain an audience. People enjoy experiencing those attributes so much!

[@willdeaquino263]

And this talk so clearly exposes the root of the current state of global affairs.

[@donalddwamae444]

i don't a person without confidence can make a good leader. being ready to fail needs confidence

[@delancyj67]

What I am understanding, is that basically, we have so many incompetent leaders because we ourselves are incompetent, particularly as it relates to elevating reason over emotion.

[@undeadpresident]

...and we all know how women think so much less with their emotions, right?

[@cpp2691]

Incompetent because imperfect..

[@PremJay]

I recently had a boss - a guy who had an inflated resume. During my interview, he came in with his laptop and in between questions, he was answering emails. This was a big red flag I missed. He made my life miserable and at times started questioning my sanity when he figured I understood his real self. At that point it became impossible for me to continue. Everywhere we go, there are people like this. This is reality. Perhaps we have to figure how to navigate..

[@PremJay]

@lucaboden atleast he is being truthful about it. my boss never used to admit but somehow he had figured to game the system. I found him to be 2 steps ahead with his game.

[@richardjohansson4214]

This is a great speech but i find all too often the people who hire and promote incompetent leaders are usually incompetent leaders themselves they don't want to promote someone who is competent because they could show up their bosses incompetence .

[@Projekt5.3]

I would like to add that many men feel the need to appear more confident than they are because society tells us we can't be wrong, we can't make mistakes, we have to know everything, and if we don't we are less of a man.....to say that women are better at being humble and have a better grasp of their abilities isn't entirely fair, women don't have these same pressures of competency imposed on them...

[@TheJenniferKK]

I looove this much needed presentation. Just one thing: confidence is useful in a leader, especially long term. Imaginary talent is the problem.

[@SirPhysics]

grounded confidence is useful in a leader. If they don't have anything to be confident about then they shouldn't be confident.

[@alanmak984]

Judge with our minds through logic, not with our hearts through feelings.

[@MrsJuliaMH]

The fact that a man (and South American) developed and presents all this brilliant content makes it even worthier

[@PriveGitaarles]

testosterone bit on the low side though sweety

[@hackthedots]

Great talk, to the point and with the needed sensitivity!

[@danielhama4558]

This is the most valuable talk I have ever had... Thank you Mr

[@harrytoyshirt4146]

It's the "Peter Principle". This is a theory propounded by a man whose name was Peter. It says that a person will rise to his level of maximum incompetence and tend to stay at that level.

[@enrices]

*Minimum Level of incompetence I believe. And I don't think it's the point of the video. Peter's principle states that you keep being promoted as long as you're competent for your current position, until you're not anymore. This speaker states that people get promoted even when incompetent.

[@phil5569]

The US electorate should watch this video.

[@toomuchdrivetothrive]

The best boss I ever had fit those qualities - competence, integrity and humility to a T.

[@pakde8002]

I'd suggest an alternative title, "How do incompetent people rise to positions of power?" The power of persuasion and a 300 million dollar inheritance.

[@camerontaylor7471]

Pak De exactly!

[@andreas.9175]

I think he had to make it a gender speech for his gender studies assessment.

[@januarysson5633]

Andréa S. He was going for the applause so he had to say something woke.

[@GyroZeppel]

Who is inheriting 300 million dollars?

[@Landwy1]

Trump actually had a $400,000,000 inheritance. He lost more money in the 1980-1990s timeframe than any other American. Men voted and will still vote for Trump because they see him as a strong leader. Actually Captain Crozier of the USS Theodore Roosevelt is a strong leader as his crew would do anything for him (including dying for him. Trump is at the other end of the spectrum. Being a white, male, boomer I must say to my fellow Americans that voted for Trump...he is no leader. Just admit that you were wrong about Trump and made a mistake. Of course that will never happen as male hubris (actually testosterone poisoning) has a strong hold on male ego. I'm retired military and can say without reservation Trump would not make it in the military. He doesn't have any compassion and have self sacrifice for others. For non military types...if your child behaved the same way Trump does, wouldn't you send that child to a child psychologist?

[@donalain69]

The ability to select good leaders doesn’t help much if you don’t get to nominate the candidates..

[@davidfof13]

Alain Koch And why do you think there aren’t many candidates that show up in the first place? I think society is at fault here as we do a terrible job of training people to be leaders

[@Remindor]

@@davidfof13 Are you seriously suggesting that the reason why Americans have to choose between Biden and Trump is because there is no one better available? Do you realize how much money it costs to just 'show up' in the very first stage of the election process? Who will pay for the campaign? Do you think wealthy people like the CEO of Apple or the CEO of Amazon will generously donate their own money to promote someone intelligent who knows what's going on? The reality is that the CEOs of Apple and Amazon will only spend their money on someone biased who will introduce laws which help Apple and Amazon to drive up their stock prices.

[@micbic5325]

I believe Alain means there are plenty of truly competent people. They simply are not on our candidate list. If we all learn to choose the BEST person we can have, we would all have to agree to write them in. The actual candidates are simply the arrogant people who THINK they are the BEST WE can get. Do NOT confuse the people who are running our country with the actual people who should be running our country.

[@maxwelldownham235]

The ability to select good leaders doesn’t help much if you don’t know what good leaders are.

[@donalain69]

@@maxwelldownham235 being able to select good leaders kind of includes to know what makes a good leader.

[@vibesmom]

Really good and it shows how our attitudes to leadership creep into our mental health solutions. Knowing limitations is not something to shun, it’s something to work on.

[@overrooftops]

Great topic, made sense, engaged the audience, great speaker. Good job!